No, not all the airlines are charging for the first checked bag, but will they hold out for much longer? We may as well get used to traveling lighter now in anticipation of even higher fees down the road.

Those fees will really add up at $15-$25 per checked bag EACH way when flying to that dream destination.

But do you really need the extra baggage? Probably not. If you choose an appropriate carry-on bag and pack more efficiently, you’re likely to find that you don’t miss hauling around all those extra suitcases.

There are great travel sites with clever tips designed to help you beat the airlines at their own game.

This is a typical sight from an Alberta highway. A quiet little pond, so innocuous, so charming. But many countries, many lands have similar vistas – sights which look perfectly safe, including those sights in some of the more questionable areas of the world like Egypt and Africa.

How can a traveler know if a decision to explore a new world is a smart decision?

Luckily, there are many web sites that can help you make an informed decision. Some even have links to other travel tools (like currency conversion charts) that make travel to a foreign land a whole lot easier.

I love my province, and I love our two biggest cities: Edmonton and Calgary. But I hate the traffic congestion. Monday, I went to Calgary for a Photoshop seminar. Arriving at 5 PM was my first mistake; my second mistake was staying on the Deerfoot Trail.

The drive was perfectly normal. 3 hours from the west side of Edmonton to the edge of Calgary. What happened after that was, in a word, ridiculous.

With millions of people, all eager to catch a glimpse of some of the world’s best Fourth of July fireworks, where does a visitor – or for that matter – a local New Yorker go to catch the show?

It’ll be my first visit to New York during the 4th of July, and I wanted to do this visit up right. I have already done Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day – so I am expecting great things from New York City on Independence Day.

But I am glad I did the research first. Here’s what I discovered about how best to enjoy the Fourth of July in New York City.

When I began my initial research into Philadelphia, I wasn’t expecting to find, of all things, pirates. But lo and behold, yes, indeedy, matey, I am on my way to see pirates.

Or rather what is left of them. This July. On a day trip from New York City.

I have decided to ignore pre-arranged babysitting tour company all-in-one tours, and arrange the trip myself on the Amtrak train. It’ll save my husband and I a bundle of money. And I am a sucker for the unexpected.

So, the pirate exhibit in Philly was a most delightful unexpected surprise. I can hardly keep my timbers from shivering.

Alberta embraces the simpler life, and some farms (like Sprout Farms) offer wooden wagon rides pulled by draft horses. It’s one way to spend a summer day in Alberta, but the Edmonton area has so much more to offer. Here are some suggestions of things to do, when you travel to Alberta’s capital city, Edmonton.

The stingray deaths at the Calgary Zoo have continued to baffle authorities. The cownosed rays began dying en masse this past Sunday in a new exhibit that opened just a few months ago, in mid-February. Toxins or poisons are suspected in the rays’ deaths although recent water tests have come up as clean. Zoo veterinarians have eliminated the possibility of moisture lotions or sunblock creams as the source of any contamination of the touch pools.

As sad as the stingray deaths are, the Calgary’s Zoo, Botanical Garden, and Prehistoric Park, with over 290 species of animals, has so much more to offer its patrons. Opened in 1929, The Calgary Zoo celebrates its 80th birthday next year.

If you’re planning a trip to western Canada, be sure to include the Calgary Zoo in your plans. And here’s why you should do that . . .